ancient sarcasm

 

Today we read from Job 12:1-15:35 in the One Year Bible. Job is answering his friends, who are trying and failing to give him good advice. He says, "You people really know everything, don't you? And when you die, wisdom will die with you!"

If he were to write this on social media today, he'd probably say, "YoU ArE sO MuCh SmArTeR tHaN I aM!" 

That's the sarcasm font, in case you weren't familiar.

And that's cool, right? Sarcasm in the Bible. But it gets better. See, Job is almost definitely the oldest book in the Bible. In fact, Job is one of the oldest books in existence. They say the Epic of Gilgamesh is older, and I'm not going to waste time arguing with them. I'll just send one of my time travelers back to find out. In the meantime, we'll agree that Job is a very old book.

So one of the oldest writings on the planet has sarcasm in it. That makes my heart glad. Because sarcasm is fun, besides being a mark of intelligence. So the Bible has always been, from the very beginning, both a fun and highly intelligent book.

In fact, like we talked about last night, the book of Job is so smart that it answers one of the hardest questions known to man, especially in theology. It's called the theodicy. We'll see that answer in a day or two, as we get to the end of Job.

Today, let's just enjoy Job's sarcasm. And realize that, like Mother Teresa said, when people come to us looking for Jesus, and all they see is US, it's pretty disappointing for everyone. Let's not be like Job's friends, trying to have all the answers and ending up wrong. Let's be more like Job, being patient in our suffering and waiting for the real answer that only God can give.

God, thanks for teaching us about sarcasm.